1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pedestrian protection system mounted in the front portion of a vehicle and structured to be disposed with a restraint body that is actuated at the time of collision of a pedestrian with the vehicle for protectably receiving in a manner corresponding to the pedestrian moving to a front upper side of the vehicle and the pedestrian moving to a front lower side of the vehicle, respectively, so as to be in a receiving state.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, as pedestrian protection systems, there have been ones using, for restraint bodies to receive pedestrians, airbags that are inflated by making inflating gases flow in or ones that are plastically deformed to absorb kinetic energy of pedestrians. Among the pedestrian protection systems using airbags, there has been one that allows disposing an inflated airbag at the front upper face of a vehicle (see JP 2000-219094A, for example), and one that allows disposing, at the front face of a vehicle, a large airbag that can receive an adult from the road surface in the vicinity of his/her chest (see JP 2003-341451A, for example). Moreover, among the pedestrian protection systems using restraint bodies that are plastically deformed, there has been one that stands a front edge part of a hood on the front upper face of a vehicle (see JP 2006-36120A, for example), and one that stands the restraint body so as to extend upward from a bumper located at the front portion side of a vehicle (see JP 2007-276503A, for example).
However, for example, in the case where the pedestrian is a small child, he/she may intrude into a space between the vehicle and the road surface at the time of collision, and because the conventional pedestrian protection systems of JP 2000-219094A, JP 2006-36120A, and JP 2007-276503A do not include parts to block the space with the road surface, there has been a problem with this point. On the other hand, in the pedestrian protection system of JP 2003-341451A, the airbag includes an area to block the space with the road surface but is extended high at the upper portion side so as to be able to protect an adult up to the vicinity of his/her chest, and thus the airbag is increased in volume, it takes time to complete inflation, and an inflator etc., for supplying the airbag with an inflating gas is increased in size, so that there has been a problem with the point of weight reduction.
To cope with these problems, it can be considered to use a sensor for detecting the build of a pedestrian and to arrange, when the pedestrian is tall, in consideration of his/her running onto the upper face of a vehicle at the time of collision with the vehicle, a restraint body such as an airbag at the upper face in the front portion of the vehicle, and when the pedestrian is a small child, in consideration of the likelihood of his/her intruding into the space on the lower face of a vehicle with the road surface at the time of collision with the vehicle, a restraint body such as an airbag at the lower face in the front portion of the vehicle.
However, with such a construction, it is difficult to cope with a mode of collision in the case where a pedestrian intrudes into the front lower side of a vehicle despite the pedestrian being tall or a pedestrian moves to the front upper side of a vehicle despite the pedestrian being small, conversely.